Postcards from the Black Country
After the end of the first UK Lockdown in 2020 I was, like a lot of people, eager to get out and about again. I started by visiting my daughter's new apartment in Brierley Hill, near Dudley. It's a few miles up the road from where I live in Birmingham, but it crosses that unseen border that divides Brum from the Black Country. This is a somewhat nebulous area that encompasses the four industrious boroughs of Dudley, Sandwell, Walsall and Wolverhampton. The people and places here share a distinct and fascinating history of industry and endeavour. I found myself really gravitating to the area, exploring and documenting these places at every opportunity. The people are a class apart; warm, friendly and quick to accept Brummie interlopers such as myself. 'Postcards from the Black Country' evolved into my longest running project as I continue to explore this sprawling region. I have no set ideals or agenda with what I am depicting, I simply enjoy wandering about and enjoying what I find, in the hope that the images I make speak to the character of places that I have visited. My images are a mix of candid photos, urban landscapes, portraiture and urbex photography, woven together into an oddball scrapbook of the Black Country in the 21st century.
